Railroad-switch.



' No. 674,327. 1 Patented May l.4. I90l.

w. wnAmou, m; BAILBDAD SWITCH (Application filed Mu. 25,1901.) (NoModel.)

THE NORRIS PETERS co. Pnmdumou WASHINGTON a. c

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

WILLIAM \VHARTON, JR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM.WHARTON, JR 82; COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF SAME PLACE.

RAILROAD-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 674,327, dated May 14,1901.

Original application filed October 25, 1900,- Serial No. 34,371. Dividedand this application filed March 25, 1901. Serial No. 52,866; (Nomodel.)

T at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WHARTON, Jr., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in Railroad-Switches,

of which the following is a specification.

. My invention relates to certain improvements in railroad-switches ofthe type in which the track of the main line is unbroken.

My invention relates to certain improvements in switches with unbrokenmain-track rails shown and described in the patents granted to me, No.69,599, dated October 8, 1867, and No. 357,438, dated February 8, 1878,in which is shown and described a guardrail attached to and movable withthe pointed switch-rail and also an elevating-rail movable therewith.

The object of my invention is to insure the transfer of a car from thesiding or turnout rails to the rails of the main track, and vice versa.

This application is a division of an application filed by me on the thday of October, 1900, Serial No. 34,371, allowed January 17, 1901.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a diagram plan viewillustrating my improved railroad switch, showing the switch railsthrown over in contact with the main-line rails. Fig. 2 is an enlargedsection on the line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on theline 3 3, Fig. l.

A A A are the permanent rails of the main track.

B B are the rails of the siding or turnout.

D D are the switch-rails, and E is the extended guard-rail.

The pointed switch-rail Dfrom its end 61 to the line d is upwardlyinclined, so as to carry the wheels of the car up to the elevatedportion of the rail, and for a portion of its length has its headoverlapping a portion of the main-line rail A, as clearly shown in Fig.land in the cross-sectional view, Fig. 2. This overlapping of that railhas for many years been common in switch structures of this type.,Adjacent to the pointed rail is the guard-rail E and between thisguard-rail and 50 the pointed rail, in the present instance, are

spacing-blocks c, and the two rails D and E are secured together bybolts or other suitable fastenings.

It will be noticed that the guard-rail Eextends a considerable distancebeyond the point or end d of the switch-rail D and that when in theposition shown in Fig. 1 that portion of the guard-rail extending beyondthe point of the switch-rail D is parallel with the main-line rail A.This extension of the guard rail beyond the end or point of theswitchrail D insures the proper transfer of the carwheels from thesiding orturnont rails to the rails of the main track.

The upper surface of that portion of the guard-rail E which is attachedto the pointed rail D is preferably made to conform with the varyingheights of the upper surface of the rail D, and the upper surface ofthat portion of the guard-rail E which extends beyond the point of theswitch-rail D is preferably made of the same height as the upper surfaceof the main-track rail A. v

The outside elevating-rail D bears against the main-line rail A The railA is rolled with a head narrower than the head of the other main-trackrails, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, thus allowing the elevating-rail D tobe moved more nearly into the path of the car-wheels traversing theswitch, so that when the switch structure is in the position shown inFig. l the car-wheels will be more surely transferred from the main-linerail to the siding-rail or from the siding-rail to" the mainline rail,as the car-wheels will have more of theirtread-surface extending outsideof the main rail and available for bearing upon the switch-rail D thanwould be the case if the head of the main rail at that place was of thenormal width.

I extend the outside elevating-rail D beyond the pointed end of theswitch-rail D and preferably to a point nearly opposite the end of theguard-rail E, and I connect the guard-rail E to the outsideelevating-rail D 5 by tie-rods f, so that by this construction the outerend of the guard rail E is supported laterally by the extension of theoutside elevating-rail D.

The upper surface of the head of the out- I00 side elevating-rail D atits movable end and for a certain distance therefrom is level with theupper surface of the head of the mainline rail A but from about a pointI) to about a point I) it is upwardly inclined, and the remaining lengthof the rail is elevated above the surface of the main-line rail. Thisconstruction is clearly shown in the sectional views Figs. 2 and 3.

I do not claim, broadly, in conjunction with unbroken main-lineswitches, a guard-rail secured to and movable with the pointedswitchrail,as this is clearly illustrated and described in the patentsabove mentioned, nor do I claim the inclined elevation of the pointedswitch-rail and the inclined elevation of the outside elei 'ating-railin combination with such a guard rail, as this construction is clearlydescribed in the Patent No. 110,808, granted to me January 3, 1871.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combinationin a railroad-switch, of theunbroken main-track rails, the rails of the siding or turnout and amovable switch structure consisting of an outside elevatingrail, apointed rail and a guard-rail alongside of and attached to the pointedrail; the head of the main-track rail against which the outsideelevatingrail is moved being of less width than the heads of the otherrails of the main track, substantially as described.

2. The combination in a railroadswitch, of the unbroken main-trackrails, the rails of the siding or turnout and a movable switch structureconsisting of an outside elevatingrail, a pointed rail and a guard-railalongside of and attached to the pointed rail and extending beyond itspointed end; the head 01". the main-track rail against which the outsideelevating-rail is moved being of less width than the heads of the otherrails of the main track, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM WHARTON, JR.

YVitnesses:

WILL. A. BARR, Jos. H. KLEIN.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent N 0. 674,327, granted May14, 1901, 7 upon the application of William Wharton, J r., ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, for an improvement in Railroad-Switches, anerror appears invthe printed specification requiring correction, asfollows: In line 14, page 1, the date, February 8, 1878, should readFebruary 8, 1887; and that the said Letters Patent should-be read withthis correction therein that the same may conform to the record of thecase in the Patent Office.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 28th day of May, A. 1)., 1901.

[SEAL] F. L. CAMPBELL,

Assistant Secretary of the Interior. Countersigned a F. I. ALLEN,

Commissioner of Patents. l

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